


The Method (or lack of thereof)

by alicy_sunberg33



Series: Drinking buddy [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: And Sasuke learns to FUCKING relax a bit, Character Study, Childbirth, Established Relationship, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Mentions of PTSD, Night Terrors, Pregnancy, Swearing, Talk of Pregnancy, The Sarada joke, The whole gang really - Freeform, a lot of swearing, as much as this can describe their relationship tbh, basically Sakura embraces much more her inner self.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27433918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicy_sunberg33/pseuds/alicy_sunberg33
Summary: Sasuke and Sakura navigate through their feelings, and their new circumstances, though not necessarily in the conventional order of things. Well. they were never conventional in the first place...Sequel to Drinking Buddy. Can be read without the previous story, I guess, though you will lack a bit of context and I write those dorks with a slightly looser handle on their way of communicating. Basically they act more like... you know... adults.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Series: Drinking buddy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997713
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44





	1. Responsibility (part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER : this is a non-betaed work written by a French person, English is not my mother tongue so don’t hesitate to point out mistakes when you see ‘em.
> 
> Other disclaimer : I take some liberties with this character study. There you have it.

## Responsibility (part 1)

Karin had deemed it safer that Sakura spent her pregnancy in the lab they were staying at. As it had been some months now since Taka and Sakura settled there, they managed to make quite the cozy underground den, making Sakura think they must look like a tribe of opossums, only getting out to enjoy the sun when it was out, or to get some fresh food. 

Sakura barely convinced Karin to do so because “so help me, Four Eyes, if I have to eat one more canned food meal, I will burn this place to the ground, you know I will do it”. Karin had raised her hands in dramatic surrender, rolling her eyes: “Geez, FINE, simmer down, you maniac!! We’ll get your damn fresh food.”

Karin changed her outlook quite drastically when Sakura and Juugo teamed up to make the most epic meal they could muster out of the mushrooms and vegetables they could find around the lab, both in the villages surrounding and in the forest -it was all vegetarian, out of respect for Juugo’s principles. Suigetsu had been obscenely moaning non-stop during the meal but it had been such a good one, probably one of the best they all had in weeks, not even Karin smacked him for making these noises while she ate. 

Karin was now the self-appointed Doctor for Sakura, scheduling monthly check-ups, and Sakura had snickered in her back when she had noticed disgustingly old and weathered books on pregnancy on her desk. Though they appeared thoroughly detailed, it seemed obvious that Karin pulled them out of some random box in an attic, originally thinking that it was highly unlikely someone would come to her to help give birth to their child. Well, it looked like fate had other plans for her in mind.

Sakura was laughing at her, but she was feeling all mushy inside with how grateful and moved she was at how hard Karin was trying.

Sakura never saw Karin use her Mind Eye this much before she learned of the child’s existence in her womb through it. She used it as a replacement for echograph, though it was much more precise, considering she could see the flow of chakra quite accurately. This way she could check on the evolution of the child.

Both women learned a lot from this experience, and Karin was surprised to see such a potential for research material. Sakura herself, had tried to use her own flow of chakra to feel her baby’s, trying to guess herself how it was doing. She had this level of mastery over it and managed to feel quite a lot with this technique they developed together. Sakura had told her about the Hyuugas who had a similar way of feeling and seeing, through their eyes. She explained that in emergencies she had to request the assistance of a Hyuuga to examine someone’s condition that could not be examined through simple examination. Karin herself thought that Sasuke could probably manage to see it with his Rinnegan. They spent most of their time theorizing about all the applications they could set up with their Justus. 

However after a while, as they sat in a bench they set up at the lab’s entrance, Karin had observed something:

“That’s all well and good, but honestly Haruno, what are you going to do now?”

Sakura had frown at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we immediately assumed you were going to keep the kid, and you seemed pretty excited about it, though I’m mostly blaming it on hormones–“

“Oi.”

“But! I’m still wondering... is he going to be okay with that? And are you going to be okay with that?”

“Do you think that he won’t...?” Sakura wondered.

“Not that,” Karin dismissed. “He’s a serious guy, you know him as much as I do, if not more. I meant that this is his offspring in here. The offspring of an Uchiha. The closest thing he now has to a family. The last time he had a family, it was slaughtered by his own brother. And he was alone for the longest time. Thinking that he might have some sort of issue with the whole thing might not be too far fetched.”

Euphoria and a world of theories on Justus and the way to apply them in a pregnancy setting had prevented Sakura from actually thinking about it.

“Right. I’ve been stalling a bit, haven’t I?” she muttered, staring at the trees.

“I wouldn’t blame you for it. It’s not exactly something you can think about easily.”

There was a pause, and Karin finally looked at Sakura, red eyes gleaming behind her glasses. Sighing, Sakura pulled out from the inner pocket of her tunic the small paper they had received by bird a week after they sent it to Sasuke’s location. She unfolded it and reread it for the up-tenth time.

_Almost done here. On my way as soon as finished._

_I’ll take responsibility._

_Stay safe._

The sharp hand writing gave a clipped tone to the answer. It had almost made her laugh when she read it the first time, with the uncanny way his writing was so similar to his speech.

“He said he’ll take responsibility,” Karin sighed after leaning over shoulder to reread the message with her. “But there is a lot to unpack here. You need to actually think about what it means to have this kid, for you and for him.”

Sakura nodded and stayed there as Karin did a gesture she rarely did, squeezing her hand, before pulling away, and awkwardly pat her shoulder. Sakura had smiled at her attempt at comfort. Karin could be so adorable in the most unexpected ways. 

“Thank you, Four-Eyes,” she grinned at her.

“You’re welcome, freak,” she huffed away, and Sakura giggled when she noticed her blush under the glasses she desperately tried to push up. 

Left alone, in the forest, listening to the birds and the wind in the branches, Sakura, hand on her belly, caressing it absentmindedly, started to think about what was to come.

There had to be a method to it all, and Sasuke tried to hang on to dear life for this method. But nothing about what was happening was conventional and methodical. So as he ran through the forest to Karin’s lab with a franticness he despised, Sasuke realized he might just loose it. 

Less than an hour after entering the forest, he arrived at the entrance of said lab, a hidden door in a tree, descending into stairs. Although the bench and small table next to it was a clear statement that someone was living around here. He saw a cup of tea still fuming on the table. 

Someone was here not too long ago, and would likely come back soon. He could wait for them, but didn’t want to leave it to luck regarding the safety of that someone.

He easily followed the trail left behind and heard the sound of someone hurling their guts in the river nearby. 

At the corner of a tree, he saw Haruno Sakura kneeling on the river bank and vomiting whatever she had consumed before. 

_Morning sickness_ , his mind groaned, and he closed his eyes, trying one last time to check if it was a dream.

Another wet hiccup from Sakura brought him back to reality in a deadpan kind of way. It would almost be funny, if he wasn’t so...

_Absolutely fucking terrified._

There, he finally admitted it. 

While he tried to even his quick breathing, more from panic than actual exertion, Sasuke pondered on wether he should leave her to throw up in private or walk up to her. It seemed his feet made the decision for him. 

As he came closer, he saw that her hair was now quite long, now past her shoulders, with a high pony tail swaying on the side, though now the hairdo was a bit of a mess.

“Sakura,” he called softly, not wanting to startle her. He still saw her freeze. 

He crouched next to her and she looked up briskly, seeing him for the first time in months. A bit of drool and bile on the side of her mouth, less than glamorous and still her green eyes pinned him where he stood and he surrendered himself to her scrutiny without complaining. 

She then gave a dramatic sigh and he knew it would be the beginning of their little dance. It was how they preferred to interact, how they felt comfortable around each other. He was grateful that she tried to ease him back into the way of things, before they finally talk. 

“Why is it,” she groaned, raising her hands and eyes to any gods above willing to listen to her laments. “That whenever I see you after a while, you always manage to find me precisely when I’m not supposed to be found!!” She glared at him so hard he couldn’t help the smile that came on his face, and gods, he had missed the blush it triggered on her cheeks.

“I can’t help having impeccable timing,” he greeted and her shoulders slumped with a scoff, before she straightened on her knees, cleaning her face with the water from the river. 

“Yes, Mister Talented,” she rolled her eyes, “please come down from your high horse, you’ll break your neck with how fast you ride, thank you.” 

“Someone’s in a good mood,” he smirked while rummaging through his pouches. She put a hand on her hip, looking positively disheveled, but still having an amused expression, like she didn’t just spend the last minutes puking in a river.

“Why, good observation, my friend, what could possibly be happening for such a thing to occur?” 

He shook his head at her antics then pulled out a clean kerchief out of his pouch, and gave it to her so she could dry her face. She blinked at it then smiled shyly and took it with a quick thanks. She scrubbed her face briskly and then she looked proper once more, save for wild strands of her hair straying from her ponytail that she tucked behind her ear. 

He was getting embarrassed at how much he was paying attention to her every move, and he admonished himself for staring too much, focusing instead on the way back.

“It’s been a while, Sasuke-kun.” He turned back to her, and the way she stood straight in front of him, with her face flush from scrubbing it a bit too hard and her clear green eyes brought clarity in his mind. “Hello,” she added bashfully.

“Hm. You look well.”

She smiled, though it looked... complicated and he didn’t quite know what to think of it.

“I try. Though now it’s a... strange turn of events...”

“Right.” He turned slightly towards the lab and she fell into step with him as they walked back to the clearing. There was a breeze that lifted the pink locks of hair in her pony tail and he realized how long her hair had grown. 

He was gone a while. Still... he saw no clear difference in her body, beneath her clothes. It was hard to see any change at all...

“You let your hair grow,” he said simply.

“Ugh, right, the bane of my existence,” she scoffed, flicking her hair with an impatient gesture. “I forgot how much of pain it is to care for. I might just straight up cut the whole thing, way too much work. Plus, if I get badly injured, I can store some chakra in it and heal myself with it. It’s a bit tricky, but some hair set aside just in case can be useful...”

He let her ramble, seeing how her nervousness slowly lifted from her shoulders as she talked.

Soon they arrived at the bench. She grabbed the teacup from the table and drunk slowly from it, calming herself. He waited for her. 

“How do you like it?” she asked after a while, sliding a shy hand in her pony tail.

“Your hair?”

“Yes.”

He paused, wondering if there was a right answer to the question. He looked at her and she waited patiently, no apprehension, just simple curiosity. She wanted an honest answer. He didn’t know if it was important, but she seemed to be wondering about his thoughts.

“If you find it annoying, then cut it. I think it will suit you either way.” 

She smiled shyly, but there was a slight disappointment. “You’re right.”

He remembered she wanted his opinion on whether he liked it, he just dodged the question. He thought again and said:

“Long hair suits you. But on you, I think short looks better.” 

She blinked then laughed and gods, he had missed that too. She placed her hands on her hips with a determined face.

“Alright then, it’s settled! Short hair it is!Thank you for your input, good sir.”

“Glad to be of service”, he drawled and she snorted at his tone. They stared at each other, both smiling. 

Seeing her after his mission alone... Never he would’ve admitted it so easily before but she made him want to be honest with himself. She had that kind of power, after all. He had missed her. A lot. The memory of her pushed him through the most ungrateful of tasks. It was as if he’d been walking in a desert, thirsty and she was the first drop of water he’d met on the way. He was probably never going to admit this thought out loud. But it felt like that.

Sakura then sighed, pointed at the bench after putting back the tea cup on the table.

“Please have a sit. You might want to make yourself comfortable. I... would like to start, and this might take a while.”

Sasuke immediately stiffened and nodded. He walked passed her, sat on the bench, unclasped his cloak neatly and folded it next to him along with his back pouch. He watched as she paced slowly, likely thinking about her words, fingers both linked together, lips thinning:

“I should probably start by apologizing...”


	2. Responsibility (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer : we enter the grossly self-indulgent territory. You have been warned.

## Chapter 2 : Responsibility (part 2)

“I should probably start by apologizing...”

Instantaneous frown on his part.

“Then I will interrupt you,” he said sternly, “and tell you that you don’t need to apologize for anything. If you wish to apologize for being careless, then I’m to blame as much as you. I should’ve been just as careful. It doesn’t fall on just you, Sakura.”

She stared at him and he was afraid his tone had been too curt, but she smiled, full of endearment. 

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun. It means a lot. But it wasn’t exactly about that.”

He realized he interrupted her without waiting for her to finish her sentence and he winced internally. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. He sighed, trying to expel the nervousness. “Please continue.”

“No harm done. What I meant is that I should apologize, because I did not take all the precautions needed to avoid this after you left. Mostly because... well I was indecisive. And then I just thought it would all be fine and reality just smacked straight into my face. However... I should’ve been honest with you from the get-go. That, should anything happen between us... I might not be able to take all the decisions needed about this. So... I apologize for not being honest with you on this.”

She bowed to him and he sighed. 

“This is not something you need to apologize for. This is your body. You don’t need my validation...”

“I know. But this entailed a lot more than I first realized, for me but mostly for you. And I didn’t take that into account. So... Please forgive me.”

She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. She was not going to let this go. He sighed again before nodding.

“Apology accepted.”

She looked so relieved that he wondered if it was something she had plagued her sleep with. He immediately felt terrible about it.

“I also apologize if the news brought you any distress at all. When we told you, I think the adrenaline, the euphoria... didn’t exactly help with realizing how much this... could mean,” she brought her hand to her belly, and his heart swelled at the sight of her like this, shy about the spark of life inside her.

“How I deal with the news is my business,” Sasuke said sternly. “You should not concern yourself with it,” he added more softly.

She looked up, her face suddenly severe.

“I hear what you mean but I disagree. Because I decided that you should be part of this. If this brought you any discomfort, I should know about it. I should be aware of your feelings on the matter, at the very least.”

He sighed, deciding not to insist further. Made a gesture for her to move on. She pouted at this, and he simply crossed his arms, not changing his stance. She narrowed her eyes, looking displeased and he merely shrugged an eyebrow at her. The snort that came out of her almost made him lose his composure and chuckle but he resisted. 

“Fine, but this is not over, Mister. We will talk about this.”

“Sure. Whatever you wish,” he drawled. 

She blushed at his wording and his piercing gaze, which somehow pleased him a bit more than he wished.

“Moving on, the main thing I wanted to tell you is this,” a long inhale and exhale. “I would like to keep the child,” she finally declared.

There was a pregnant pause (Author: “HAH! *ahem*... sorry, let’s just keep going...”) during which Sasuke felt dizzy. 

He had thought about this on his way here, but hearing it said out loud, outside of his dazed mind felt kind of like a slap to the face, that woke him up from his inner meandering. 

“I gathered as much... Do you... feel ready?” He asked and honestly he asked this question to her as much as he did to himself.

She hesitated before laughing nervously:

“Honestly I don’t know. Are you ever ready for a child to be born? Is this something anyone is actually prepared to face for the first time? I feel like... some people can be more ready than others... but I don’t know which one I am. All I know is that... I want to keep it.”

He observed as hesitation morphed into determination the more she talked, and the wave of admiration he suddenly felt for her took him by surprise and it must have shown on his face somehow, because she suddenly looked bashful and avoided his gaze.

He didn’t know if he was ready himself. 

“You are the father,” Sakura went on, “we checked all that could be checked at that stage -also I didn’t have sex with anyone else, so there’s that too-. The probability of it having the same abilities as an Uchiha is very high. Whatever you choose to do, I decided I would raise them with all the knowledge I can provide on this, but there is only so much I can do, if they need specific training, especially if they develop a Sharingan...”

He frowned as she was in the middle of her explanation.

“Sakura.”

“Yes?”

“What do you mean by ‘whatever I choose to do’?”

“I mean exactly what I meant, Sasuke-kun. Should you decide to recognize the child or not, whatever you decide, I will keep it.”

Somehow, he saw the heartbreak this perspective, of raising the child alone and recognized only with the Haruno name, under her determined expression. The hurt of merely thinking about it was palpable. She had prepared herself to the eventuality of him refusing to acknowledge the child as his. Again, her thought process slapped his in the face. But this time it was very different. He immediately felt angry.

He stood up and walked up to her slowly. She blinked at this. 

“Sakura. What are the words I wrote in my response...?” He tried hard to temper the fury inside of him. He felt like he was failing.

She seemed confused.

“...’Almost done here, on my way as soon as finished. I’ll take responsibility. Stay safe’...?”

“Right. What is it that you don’t understand in the words ‘I’ll take responsibility’?”

Her eyes widened and she stared at him, like she couldn’t believe he was standing in front of her. Then he noticed water filling her eyes slowly. She blinked it away harshly and stared down at her feet, her fists clenched.

“You have a lot on your plate already. I don’t want to impose this on you...”

“‘ _Impose_ ’?”

“You deserve a life of rest, you deserve to be free of all the things that hurt you, of all those chains that held you down before, you don’t need yet another one, you should not be forced into this!” she snapped, her hands clenching on the flap of her tunic.

Somehow, even after all he’d done... she still saw him as a victim. Maybe as a child, he was. But he was now a criminal as well... And yet here she was, putting her happiness on the line for his...

So annoying.

His hand lifted to her face and he cupped her cheek to raise her gaze to his. Her tears were now streaming down her face.

“You are so stubborn,” he hated how his voice wavered. “What made you think this is the kind of thing that would hurt me? That _you_ would be a chain that holds me down? What made you think you had ever forced me into anything?”

He saw her lip tremble and he dared to stroke her cheek with his thumb.

“Everything that connects me to you is something I chose, that we both chose, Haruno Sakura. Nothing you do or say could ever force me to do or say anything. I am not forced. _I chose_. Don’t argue with me on this: if you still wish for it, then this child will be an Uchiha. I _will_ take responsibility.”

The relief and emotion on her face broke into a sob and she leaned her forehead against his chest. He let her cry against him, lowering his lone arm to her elbow, waiting for her to calm down and keeping her close. 

“Thank you,” she kept whispering against his clothes her hands clinging against his shirt.

“I bet you stayed awake at night because of this, you idiot,” he chided gently. “Do you think so little of me that you actually imagined me saying no to this?” he teased carefully and he was a bit relieved when he heard her wet laugh. 

“Jerk, it’s not that!” She punched his shoulder lightly. “I had to give you the choice. I had to tell you you had options in this.”

“Then I chose the moment I read the news. Don’t worry about that anymore.” He poked her forehead with his fingers in admonishment, and she stuck her tongue back at him. 

“Can I hold on to the kerchief for now? I think I’m going to need it,” she sniffled, smiling bashfully.

“Just keep it,” he rolled his eyes. He took her hand in his and walked her back to the bench, he made them sit next to each other, and she spent the next minute blowing her nose in the tissue. 

It was a bit awkward at first. But warmth gained him when Sakura leaned her head on his shoulder. 

“So,” she said after a moment of comfortable –and mostly relieved– silence. She drummed her fingers on her belly. “Another Uchiha is coming to the world. That’s something!”

“Hm.” He had to close his eyes because he remembered the carnage of that night. Now that he knew the truth behind the death of the Uchiha clan, his grief felt complicated. The family he had loved as a child was built on lies, the hurt was still here, and he didn’t quite know what to feel about them.

It was the only thing he had confessed during one of many drinking session with Sakura. And even drunk, she could give interesting insights. On this subject, she had said this:

“Love is love, Sasuke-kun. Affection transcends a lot of the things done by others. It cannot be rational. I would know about that,” she added with a teasing tone while looking at him, and laughed at his embarrassed scoff. “Whatever they had done in the past, the Uchihas were still your family. Your parents and close ones. Although they intended to hurt Konoha, you still loved them. There is nothing wrong with that. Don’t blame yourself for mourning them still.” 

Thus he came to accept that he would always love his family. However this love was shrouded in confusion and sorrow. And regret. A massive and sickening amount of regret. The same went for Itachi. 

And then came in Haruno Sakura and somehow, they here she was with a spark of the Uchiha family inside her, a brand new one and the love he felt for this was so bright, so clear, and so overwhelming he didn’t realize he was still squeezing her hand. And he was staring at her. He could think as hard as he could about it, and there was nothing he would ever regret here. He felt like he wanted to cry.

How he wished his brother could hear these news...

“Is everything alright, Sasuke-kun?”

“..... It’s a lot to take in, I guess,” his voice was hoarse. The tears had reached his throat but not his eyes yet. “You’re making me dizzy,” he smirked. She giggled and the mirth in her eyes was to die for.

There she was, that light in the darkness that brought him home. This stubborn, annoying, strong woman that offered him the greatest gift to his lone existence. 

_There was a method to this._

“My turn”, he said, standing up and she let go of his hand reluctantly. 

He had his back turned to her, and used that opportunity to scrub the tears prickling at his eyes with his thumb. Then he turned to her. She blinked, curious but attentive. He did not pace. He stayed right in front of her.

“When I said ‘taking responsibility’, I didn’t just mean the child.”

“...Right?”

He stared at her and she didn’t seem to get his gist. He groaned internally.

“Woman, you can be surprisingly dense,” he deadpanned.

“Hey! I was already stressed about this, do you think I had time to think about something else?”

He sighed, passing his hand on his face. He couldn’t escape it. He had to spell out probably one of the most embarrassing and nerve-wracking thing to ask someone, ever. Then he looked up at her, green eyes waiting patiently, pink hair swept on her shoulder. 

Hm. He didn’t know if it was the best thing for her. But he wanted to ask her. He wanted to ask her really bad.

“Haruno Sakura.”

“Yes.” He smirked because she looked so tense. If she had any idea how he felt right now... oh well, she’d know soon enough.

“You know that the fan on my back is the symbol of my clan.”

“Yes.”

“I want to ask you... if you’d like to carry it on your back as well.”

She seemed to not react immediately, so he came closer and knelt in front of her, hand on his lap, staring up at her. He watched as slow realization dawned on her, and the blush on her face was slow to manifest, he was glad he decided to come closer because what a sight that was. 

“Are you...?” She couldn’t finish her question. She seemed unable to. So he sighed again. He really had to spell it out for her. The heat on his own face was stuffy and unbearable, but at this distance, he couldn’t exactly hide it from her.

“I’m asking you, Haruno Sakura, if you’d accept to be the third person to carry the name of Uchiha in this world. I’m asking you to be my wife.”

The silence after that was long and deafening but somehow, just staring at her expression covered in red and the remain of tears was enough for him. So he waited.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. And he rolled his eyes, because of course her first reaction is this. “Are you drunk?”

He glared at her.

“ _Fuck you_ , Sakura. Really?”

She burst out laughing, he guessed it was her nervousness giving in, but it succeeded in alleviating the solemn atmosphere. He sighed but didn’t have the heart to stop her. Then she scrubbed at her eyes, tears starting to flow again, then bringing her hand to her chest. 

“Is this really happening?”

“What, do you want me to pinch you?”

“I mean, it could be some really powerful genjutsu, and I might just be having the dream of my life while someone is butchering the others in the lab–“

“Sakura,” he snapped.

She blinked, saw him stare. His face was still hot, probably really red. She leaned down to look at him properly, raised her hand to his face, pushed the hair back from his other eye, she looked incredulous but the sheer amount of love from her gaze almost knocked the breath out of his lungs.

“Well?” he asked softly. He might have sounded a bit impatient. She gave a soft chuckle:

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Then she just pounced. She literally tackled him to the ground, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. The kiss was surprisingly soft considering the brutality of the move. He let her have her way with him, because if he was being honest, he had missed this as well. He snaked his hand around her waist to keep her close, and responded to her lips. He didn’t exactly know how long they stayed like this, but the fact she was breathless when she pulled back was enough of an indicator. Her hair was pooling around them, and well, he supposed he was going to miss that when she would cut it.

“Is that your answer?” he teased.

“Yes,” she squeaked. “Thank you for having me. Please take care of me.”

Her words were so humble compared to the situation, he couldn’t help but laugh. 

But he was... happy. She said yes. To him.

“Likewise,” he said solemnly, even though he was pinned to the ground by his soon-to-be wife. “Please take care of me.”

She laughed, it was from pure delight, then she stood up and pulled him up to his feet so easily. One could forget how strong Sakura was when just looking at her. He didn’t. 

While his hand was still in hers, she brought it to her mouth and kissed it, closing her eyes over his knuckles. Something she usually did while slightly more inebriated, but he still couldn’t get used to it.

They shared a soft smile and she kept his hand in hers, standing there in relieved silence, enjoying each other’s presence.


	3. A Parent

## Chapter 3: A parent

“I’m kind of sad that it had to take me being pregnant for this to happen,” Sakura sighed, staring at his hand. “In all honesty, I probably would’ve been the one proposing to you,” she grinned at him, looking cheeky, and her face just called to have the flick of fingers on her forehead, which he did. She snickered and her laugh was infectious, because he smiled too.

“You can’t be the only one to take the initiative,” Sasuke snarked. 

“Is that a challenge? Because I see that as a challenge.”

While they bickered, they returned to the bench, Sasuke allowing himself to lean his back against the bark of the tree behind, and closed his eyes, enjoying the breeze and the quiet. Sakura took her spot back against his shoulder and they stayed like that for a while. After all these emotions, their minds needed the rest.

“Did you know that Hinata-chan is pregnant as well?” she said after a while.

“Hm?”

Hyuuga Hinata...? Hold up a minute. It’s Uzumaki Hinata now–

Sasuke opened his eyes wide and glanced incredulously at her grinning face. 

“You’re shitting me.”

“I shit you not. We received the news shortly after we split up. Uzumaki Naruto is going to be a father.”

There’s a pause, and Sakura can’t contain herself and erupts in cackles. He can’t help his own chuckle.

“Konoha, beware,” she said dramatically. “The offspring of the most stubborn little shit you’ve ever met will soon be upon us. You thought you saw all of him? Just you wait.”

“It’s gonna get so much worse,” he deadpanned. She snickered against his shoulder. After calming down, Sakura sighed.

“We’re just being petty.”

“You started it,” he merely shrugged and this time she was the one to flick his forehead with her fingers.

“That doesn’t mean you need to indulge me!”

“When it’s about this dumbass, I’m positive I’ll always indulge,” he sneered.

“Behave, Sasuke-kun,” she admonished. “Let’s at least not do it while he can’t hear us.”

“.... Do you mean we would do it in front of him?” 

“Obviously,” she huffed. He turned to her, smirking. 

“You are bad,” he smirked, shaking his head. “I need to take you away from this place, Karin and Suigetsu are a bad influence on you.”

“Right. Should we elope?” 

“Sure, why not. Just as a warning, if you end up losing your waters while on the road, this time, I won’t take responsibility,” he drawled.

“Pff, you’re no fun,” she giggled. 

They got quiet again and Sakura broke the silence again:

“He’s going to be a great dad,” she said softly.

“Hm?”

“Naruto. He’d be great at it. Being a dad. He loves children.”

“Hm. I guess,” he admitted, not as reluctantly as he thought.

“I think you’ll be great at it too.”

This time he said nothing. He felt her move her chin on his shoulder to look at him, he could guess her expression at his silence. But he didn’t turn to her. He didn’t like showing her his doubt. But today, it was hard to hide it.

“Do you not believe it?” she whispered.

“I don’t think I’ve proven being good with children before. At all. Ever,” He tiptoed around the subject slightly.

“Some people can be uncomfortable around children. That doesn’t mean they won’t be good parents,” she added. “Do you not think you could be one?”

“I don’t know. The job I’m doing right now is not ideal to raise a child. I think I’d be away most of the time. I don’t know if that’s considered good parenting.”

“I see. What else are you thinking about?”

He opened his mouth then closed it, at loss for words. His lips thinned and she seemed to detect his discomfort, taking his hand in hers. 

“There is no rush. Take your time. Those are important questions to think about, the answer isn’t going to be easy to find.”

He nodded, and she leaned back on his shoulder, closing her eyes, and waiting. Her thumb rubbed against the side of his hand, like a reassurance. A comfort.

“I loved my father. But... looking back on it now, I don’t think he was... a good parent.”

“Did he treat you badly?” He detected the worry in her voice and how she tried to hide it. He shook his head.

“He was never violent with me, if that’s what you’re asking. Other than this and the clan’s intentions towards Konoha, he had high expectations for both my brother and me... Niisan suffered the pressure, I suffered the comparison. He was harsh, strict. ... Maybe he did care about us, in his own way. Mother told me so, and... I think I believe her now. But how he showed us his affection... However he meant to do well, we still suffered from it. I don’t want to do that. But I don’t know any other way to... show fatherly affection.”

There is a long pause, and he heard Sakura hum in agreement. 

“Did you know? That there still is someone that kind of showed us fatherly affection, in our days...”

He paused, then smirked.  
“Are you talking about Kakashi?”

“Please have mercy, I still can’t quite believe my brain produced this thought,” she grumbled. “I don’t mean that he is an example to absolutely follow but... you still associated what I said with Kakashi no? That has to mean something!”

He scoffed.

“He is a jackass.”

“That he is. However, he protected us, taught us, cared for us, worried about us, he laughed and cried with us, he was patient, he nurtured us, in his own kind of gross and dumb way. Everything he did for us, we could use in our future. My father taught me a lot of things but Kakashi-sensei taught me just as much, though in different areas. Most of all, he taught me to have faith in my abilities. To trust myself. That’s something a father would do, I believe. He loves us very much. Maybe he was like that with us precisely because we were the closest thing he had to children. We were after all, the only team he took on.”

Sasuke pondered her explanation, then concluded he really did owed him a lot. Kakashi had probably been the best adult to appear in his young life. It was definitely with him and Team 7 that he learnt to loosen up. His favorite technique, Chidori, was a legacy from Kakashi. Plus, he had also carried the Sharingan, borrowed from Uchiha Obito, for a good part of his life. In hindsight, that was probably why he had accepted this team, considering the similarities between them, he was possibly the best teacher he could’ve hoped to have at the time. 

Not many people older than him was close to him as much as Kakashi was. Sasuke probably wouldn’t be comfortable with anyone else of this generation.

“You might be right,” he conceded after a moment. But he was still hesitant. Sakura, of course, perceived it, and squeezed his hand a bit more. 

“And another thing is, it’s not about fatherly affection or motherly affection. Each parent will have something specific to give and will love differently. All you have to do is care. I think you will be great at being a father,” Sakura assured, with the same tone she used back when she was taking care of his recovery after his fight with Naruto. When she was telling him that all was fine. When she was smacking the elders of Konoha trying to imprison him with a ‘common sense’ so stern and deadpan they couldn’t argue against it. Sasuke himself hardly could. Not that he wanted to. 

But doubt still gnawed at his insides.

“I’ll be sent away. A lot.” He stated bitterly. “Sometimes for a while. I don’t think I’ll even have the time to be one... Nothing is certain but this: I won’t be there to see them grow.... to help you... to be with you... You are aware of this, right?”

Sakura closed her eyes, sighed through the nose. 

“I am aware... It’s a bit scary to think about but... I don’t think we should think of what we will miss... but of what will happen when you are back. What matters is that when you are there for them, for us, make the most of it.”

Her words calmed him, although sadness swelled in him at the thought of leaving her alone with the child in Konoha. She would be fine, he knew it. She wouldn’t be completely alone. Still he was filled with apprehension. 

“Many times, a parent may be at home, but don’t raise their child as they should, I’ve seen that a lot. More than I’d like,” she told him bitterly. “Because they didn’t give their child any love. None whatsoever. Barely accounting for their survival. Even while living with their children, they weren’t truly parents.”

She looked up at him. Assurance. Determination. Certainty. 

Love. Careful, deep, unequivocal love that took his breath away just from her stare, and pinned him there, trapped in the green of her eyes, and he believed and drank every word that came out of her mouth, willfully surrendering to her natural dojutsu:

“I know it. You will love them, very much. You will be away, That is true. But when you will be there, you will love them so much, and you will make the most of every moment with them. And they will be happy, and it will have been worth the wait.”

She raised her hand to his cheek, waited for his consent, and when he nodded, she slid her fingers along his neck and brought his forehead against hers. He just let himself drown in her clear green eyes.

“You can be sure of this, because this is exactly how I feel right now,” she confessed softly, and he had to close his eyes, because it was too much, she was just too much, he couldn’t handle all the happiness she gave him. He wasn’t used to so much thrown at him without him running away somewhere, but she was pinning him under her gentle calloused hand.

He loved her. 

The thought was so loud in his mind, he almost blurted it out, but he restrained himself. The fear of her disappearing from his sight, like a cruel dream, or an impossible genjutsu, or a trick of his mind, just by uttering those terrifying and terribly real words, plagued his thoughts. 

“Someday,” he whispered, “I will say those words back to you. But not now. I am still a coward. Sorry.”

She blinked, a bit confused, but then smiled and hummed against his forehead, kissing it. Sasuke felt like he was wrapped in warmth, he didn’t want it to end.

“I told you before, I don’t mind the waiting,” she chided gently.

“You should.”

“But I don’t.”

“You’re so annoying,” he chuckled breathily.

“Oh, so you want to be punched that badly,” she challenged mischievously.

He smiled before slowly pulling away. Not before kissing her on the forehead, on her mark. Right now, this was the most affectionate gesture he could show her.

“Are you starting to pay me back? For all the luck you took before?” Sakura asked, blushing under her amused smile.

He felt his face heating at her call back but smirked. He wanted to be a bit bold.

“I’ll get there eventually,” he mused, passing his hand through her long hair, gently untangling some knots he found on the way.

“You have a lot of catching up to do,” she said nonchalantly, closing her eyes as he played with her pony tail.

“Hn. I don’t mind that,” he repeated her words from before. 

“I’m sure you don’t,” she said in a sing song tone. He chuckled at that.

After he was done with her hair, she put her head back against his shoulder, as if it was where it always belonged. Maybe it did, mind you.

“He’s not a father but maybe Kakashi-sensei could give you some pointers about taking care of kids. How about you go have some drinks with him, the next time you get back?” she suggested mischievously after a moment.

He turned to her slowly.

“How long ago since your last drink?” he deadpanned.

“Three months and fourteen days...,” she faked a sob and bumped her head against his shoulder. She gripped his shirt then stared up at him, while shaking him dramatically, making him roll his eyes, but smiling. “I haven’t had a good drink in three months and fourteen days, Uchiha-san!! And I have five months and sixteen more days to go!!” she added with a hiss. “Plus I’m supposed to wait for another two months after the birth, for good measure!”

She punctuated her explanation with a groan. 

“Well, Uchiha-san,” he said, smirking, certain of the kind of effect calling her that could have on her. “Guess you’re gonna have to hold on a bit longer.”

He saw her pause, then slowly blush. He leaned on the side to watch her face, smile still on.

“That was a sneak attack,” she grumbled.

“Get used to it,” he drawled. “This is your name now. You said yes.”

“Right, right...,” she seemed to still be thinking about it, before a bashful smile bloomed on her face, and Sasuke knew he could relax.

“Tell me,” Sakura said after a while. “If I had proposed to you, and there wasn’t... this... going on. Would you have said yes?”

He looked back at her. 

“I just proposed to you,” he chided, reproachful.

“I know but... this was the main reason you did, wasn’t it?” she smiled, her hand on her belly.

He frowned at her. But she looked up at him, and didn’t flinch at his glare.

“Be honest with me,” Sakura demanded. He sighed through the nose, then looked back at the clearing and the forest, seeking comfort in the calm surroundings. 

“.... I probably wouldn’t know what to answer,” he said finally. “I probably wouldn’t have felt deserving. Or ready.”

“But you do now?”

“I have to be.”

“So you still were forced into this...”

“No. Stop.”

He pinched her cheek harshly, and she yelped.

“Ouch!!”

“I told you, idiot. Nothing you do will ever force me. I am glad this happened.”

“Really?”

“Hm. Because I’m coward, Sakura.”

“You’re not,” she disagreed, scrubbing her cheek.

“I am. Because this had to happen for me to see that I was ready to say yes. And so, that meant that I was ready to ask. Just because there are circumstances doesn’t mean all choice is gone. In hindsight, I should apologize for making you wait.”

“You have every right to be cautious,” Sakura shook her head. “I just wanted you to be sure.”

“I literally knelt, Sakura.”

“I know! But if it’s protocol, when you want to, you’re good at it, so it doesn’t count.”

“When I want to?”

“Yes, because you do whatever the hell you want, no matter what anyone else says. We can call Naruto ‘stubborn little shit’ all we want, but you’re not so bad either.”

“Tch.”

“ _You don’t even deny it!_ ” she cackled.

She crossed her fingers with his while they bickered, trapping his hand to her side, and he didn’t mind that at all.


	4. Picture it

## Chapter 4: Picture it

Sasuke came back two months later, Sakura’s belly had grown so exponentially, he stared at it for minutes before greeting her with: 

“You’re looking well.” And he barely dodged the apple thrown to his face. 

“The _nerve_ of you,” she sneered. “I look horrifying, and you know it. When I saw my face this morning, I thought I definitely looked the Uchiha part with how wide the bags under my eyes were,” she sighed. 

He nearly choked on the tea she just gave him as welcome at her joke.

“You’re becoming more of a menace every time I see you,” he smiled.

“You dare call me names in my home,” she mimicked shock.

“Technically, it’s mine, you freak,” Karin’s distant voice rang in the hallway.

“You’re no fun, Four Eyes,” Sakura huffed. Then turning to Sasuke, smiling. She did look tired but her eyes still shone bright when looking at him. “Welcome back. I have news, you might want to sit down.”

He nodded and did as she told, putting his cloak away. 

“First,” she said tapping her belly lightly, “our good Doctor confirmed it, this one here is going to be a girl!”

His eyes widen slightly. 

“Really?” He was surprised at the eagerness of his tone. Sakura nodded with enthusiasm. 

Then apprehension snuck in his mind. He knew all about boys being raised in the Uchiha household, but a girl?

“I see you panicking behind that eye of yours, and I’m telling you, it’s not much different that of a boy. I’ll take care of the physiological stuff when puberty strikes, so take a deep breath, it’s going to be fine,” she poked his forehead lightly, and he nodded, trying not to make his relief too obvious. 

“Secondly,” she said as she brought some papers on the table, “we got some mail from Konoha. Mostly congratulations. And as usual, Naruto being a little shit, and Ino-pig being a bitch, but that’s a whole other subject. More importantly...”

She showed him a letter stamped with a big red disk, and in the middle of it, a white circle. The Haruno emblem. 

“My parents want to meet you. Pretty sure my father spent an entire week trying to find our stamp in his mess before sending this to us. Look at that, all official-looking...,” she scoffed but still looking at the letter fondly. She must miss them a lot.

There was a pause. And he had to put his tea cup back on the table. He was now completely tense.

“I’m afraid there’ll be no avoiding that, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said sympathetically. “My parents make me promise here to get a hold on you for dinner, at the very least, or else, and I quote, they “will come here themselves”. Plus, since we will come back only once she’s born, they will want to meet their granddaughter.”

He produced a strained groan. 

“Is that absolutely necessary,” he asked while knowing the answer to this was obvious. 

“You know it is, Uchiha-san,” she smiled softly. “My father is a bit of an idiot, and even more of a dork than you. And my mother is a bit of a tough cookie. But they’ll like you. And I’m sure you’ll like them.”

He sighed again. Just thinking about meeting her parents made him nervous. He wanted to believe her when she said those words. 

But he was a missing nin. A criminal still paying for the crimes he committed before. From a household known to be traitors to Konoha, and he was the one Sakura was going to introduce to her parents. Plus, he would be bringing her home with a child, and it would be their first meeting. In their genin years he might have seen them from afar when they would drop Sakura at the academy, but never engaged in a conversation with them even though she was a member of his team. 

Sometimes, he wanted to go back in time just to slap some sense into his younger self. Self-centered little shit...

“By the way, when we go back to Konoha, would you like to have a quick wedding ceremony?” she asked casually. Sasuke searched irony in her tone and found none. She looked up from her cup, green eyes quietly waiting for an answer, non-judgmental and patient. This patience of hers was so infuriating sometimes.

“Is that okay with you?” He asked carefully. “Don’t you want a proper one? Friends, family, a feast?”

“Well, do you?” she asked back, her smile was wry yet still managing to look at him with a fondness that confounded him. His lips thinned, keeping quiet.

While he would take responsibility for the child and the marriage, he was far from ready to feel deserving of having a wedding with an actual celebration. This is not the kind of attention he wanted to have on them. Plus, the more discreet it was, the safer it would be for Sakura and the child. He was still someone that could warrant hostility on anyone close to him. Although in hindsight, it was probably the potential hostiles that needed to be safe from Sakura.

She seemed to think about his question for a moment then shrugged. 

“Maybe when I was younger, I would have wished for the whole thing. Traditional wear, music, speeches, dancing, sake flowing all around...”

“I don’t think that’s the younger you that wants that last thing,” he deadpanned. 

“Mayyyyyybe,” she winked and stuck her tongue in a “ _teehee_ ” kind of way, so ridiculous he snorted. 

“Well other than that small detail...,” she went on. “Things are different now. Not because they are more serious or anything. And if I see you thinking that it’s your fault, boy, I _will smack you_ ,” her tone made him smile so easily even though the chat was serious. “But mostly because my needs are different. Now, my needs are also yours.”

She leaned on the table with her elbows, bringing her hand to his cheek, waiting for his approval and his nod before passing her fingers through his hair lovingly. He sighed through the nose because while he was gone, he had missed her touch. 

She brought his face up by sliding her lithe fingers under his chin. 

“How about this? When we go back, let’s invite our witnesses. I’ll bring Ino and my parents. You’ll bring Naruto and ask Kakashi-sensei to officiate. We go to the city hall and ask for the papers. Sign them. Say our vows if we have them ready. And once it’s done, we all have dinner with the others, maybe have a picnic under a tree, play some games, have some drinks,” she added mischievously and he rolled his eyes. “And that’s it! We can wrap it up in one day! It’ll be casual. But fun! How does that sound?”

Sasuke took a moment to picture it. Even pondered on who to invite for the dinner. Just a quiet thing, a picnic at night with friends and her family... She had this gift of imagining simple things and offering them to his mind so he could picture them and smile at them. 

“That doesn’t sound half bad,” he admitted slowly. He wanted to seem reluctant, but her broad smile told him she saw through him. He was shyly, softly looking forward to this. 

Then her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a perfect o. 

“She moved,” she grinned, almost looking like a maniac. She shook her hands in the air excitedly, like malfunctioning fans, then brought one to her belly. She took his with the other, this time without asking, and put his palm against it. He was a bit stunned at her gesture but let her do whatever she wanted. 

“She moved...?” He repeated, almost whispering. As if whispering would make any difference, but still.

“Yeah,” she muttered in the same tone. “She’s real feisty.” She was focused on finding a good spot in her belly for him to feel through. The position was a bit uncomfortable but his body was completely still. He didn’t dare to break the moment and her focus.

“There!” She slid his hand at a specific spot and pressed it there, then he felt a bump, that came and went just as quickly. He didn’t quite know what to make of it. It was... completely new. A bit surreal and even creepy, because honestly feeling a kick in his wife’s belly from a creature living inside had its own level of uncanny. 

His wife.

His daughter. 

His breathing began to shake and Sakura obviously noticed that because while she smiled softly as she stared at her belly, her fingers made soothing motions on his hand. 

“I can’t wait to meet her,” she said like it was a secret. She looked at him and smiled softly. He smiled back, though his expression was careful and slow, and she seemed moved at this. 

“I have to admit, I’m starting to be a bit curious,” he said, smirking.

“A bit?” she teased.

“Just a bit.” She chuckled at his words and leaned her forehead against his, nuzzling her nose against the hair covering his eye. 

She felt so warm, she looked so happy...

He had a hard time admitting that he had something to do with it. Sakura could be happy by herself, she was strong like that. But somehow, the mere idea that he could make it a tiny bit easier was comforting. 

Sakura could make him happy just from the mere memory of her, and she always managed to raise it even more. 

“Have you thought of a name?” he whispered.

“I thought about Mikoto,” she suggested carefully.

His mother’s name. His smile was bitter and quickly disappeared.

Of course, when he thought he couldn’t get anymore emotional than this, there came in Sakura with her thoughts that punched his psyche as hard as her fists would his body. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed, but wanting to hide it. She squeezed his hand in hers, showing once more that she saw through him. She always called him “hard to read” but it seemed she was getting better at guessing and acknowledging his feelings when even he barely could.

“It’s a pretty name,” he conceded softly. She smiled, because she read between the lines.

“Should we try something else?”

“Please.”

“Alright,” she nodded. “Just hit me up when you think of something, okay?”

“Hn.”

He closed his eyes, his mother’s smiling face drifting away from his thoughts. Sakura held him through it, her forehead pressed against his, warm and alive, twice fold.


	5. Unplugging ?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of prank wars and unplugging from one’s life.

## Chapter 5 : Unplugging?

For the next months, Sasuke had no assignments from Konoha, and whenever a falcon from any other villages showed up, if it wasn’t an urgent matter, or if it wasn’t close by, he usually dismissed the orders. Sakura had a hard time hiding her pleased glee, and it became even harder when Sasuke noticed her reactions to sending off the birds without an answer. He stayed at the lab with all the Taka members and Sakura, only getting out for resupplying, or tagging along with Suigetsu and Juugo for some merc missions. Karin called it “letting the dogs out”. A very Karin comment.

“Never change, Four Eyes,” Sakura had said with a fake moved tone.

“Fuck you, freak.”

Whenever she cursed, Suigetsu would sometimes gasp dramatically and say to Karin while covering either Juugo‘s ears or Sakura’s belly:

“Not in front of the children, you heathen!!”

“...Do you realize that Juugo is the most vulgar one out of all of us when he’s in Curse mode, puddle face ?” Karin deadpanned. 

“You’re lucky she’s not out yet because if she was, I would’ve punched you,” Sakura replies casually.

“Right. Because physical violence is so much better than vocal one.”

Sakura discovered that pregnancy made her act especially childish and she would find herself starting prank wars with Suigetsu, or just band with him to spread mayhem in the lab, or the village nearby where they usually resupplied. When they did prank people together, it was usually Karin, while she stayed in the “Opossum’s Den”, as Sakura called it. Apparently, she was the most fun to mess with. 

Sasuke was apparently harder to prank because he busted any of their plans before they even started, and Juugo was never really pissed, just... confused or impassive. So that left Karin, and her furious shrieks resounding in the lab’s corridors whenever she fell victim to one of their traps.

Sasuke even saw a note with Karin’s impatient writing:

_Don’t forget: take the beast for a walk, pregnancy drives her nuts._

Sasuke witnessed all that with a latent amusement and a careful relaxedness. He sometimes found himself in the crossfire of these silly plots. Sakura tried to tell him about her plans in an attempt to involve him. He rarely did. 

There was this one time, however, when she used fermented beans on an old woman that kept saying rude things about her and especially about Karin. She took offense personally. But the old lady knew Sakura’s ways by now, but wasn’t that all familiar with Sasuke. So she used him to deliver her prank to the old crone and it exploded to her face when she opened the package from the handsome stranger. He had accused her of making him look even worse than he already did, but she was laughing so hard after the deed he couldn’t really stay mad at her.

“Is there a reason why you feel the need to go on this... pranking spree?” He asked her as they were both preparing dinner. It was hard to hide the mix of annoyance and amusement in his words. 

The mischievous smile she gave him told him she saw though him.

“Do you know who’s a master prankster?” She asked casually.

“... Kakashi?”

“Oh yeah, he’s good. But I’m talking about the other one.”

“The dumbass?” The sheer amount of disdain in his voice made her snicker. 

“Yup. I realized that, while I was a very vain girl when we were young, Naruto was having the time of his life, just pissing off people left and right. You have to admit it’s a power in its own right! And even though I would have rather died than admit it, I thought that it looked fun as heck. Of course, the fact that he did so to get some attention because he was so alone is far from fun, but it’s the activity that interests me here. And that... inspired me.”

They were making a tomato salad and omelets. She was finishing up batting the eggs energetically, and him cutting the tomatoes. After a while he hummed, somehow starting to understand her point.

“So I was thinking, before she’s born,” she pointed the whip at him, “I might as well channel my inner little shit, and have some fun.”

Sasuke just stared at her and gave a sigh: 

“Suits yourself.” She noticed a smirk on his face and grinned back at him.

As they were making the omelets with the frying pan, Sasuke seemed to notice her putting an unholy amount of pepper in the one she was making. And she wasn’t stopping. 

“What are you doing?” he scolded. “Don’t waste food, nobody’s gonna eat that.”

“Ah, but see, that’s where you’re wrong,” Sakura gave him a maniacal grin. “Suigetsu likes to eat his omelets -well, most of his food, really- in one go. It won’t be wasted. Trust me on that.”

Sasuke stared at her in horror.

“You’re a monster.”

She stuck her tongue at him. 

At dinner, he couldn’t manage to keep the snort from coming out when they saw Suigetsu getting a coughing fit after gobbling his omelet, as prophesied, and Sakura cackling at him. Karin had a cruel smile on as she watched “puddle face” wheezing, coughing and almost crying.

Suigetsu, after being able to talk as if he didn’t just sniffed a salt crystal, promised a swift, cruel and unforgiving revenge. Sakura took it in stride and welcomed the challenge.

“It’s silly, I know,” Sakura had smiled self-depreciatingly, pouring tea for Sasuke’s cup.

They both sat alone in the forest, the moonlight shining into the clearing, a lantern by their side. 

“It just feels like it’s been a long time since I just... unplugged from the rest of my life. Here, I don’t have to think about any of it.”

“Hn. I see what you mean.”

“Really?”

“As weird as it might sound, not going on a mission for a long while is kind of enjoyable,” he smirked. 

“Hah! I hear you there. Cheers for paternity leave!”

“Isn’t paternity leave for after the birth?”

“Nope. In Konoha you can take the paternity leave at the same time the mother does. Except it’s a partial one, so you can just do half the hours you’re used to if you want. But no one ever takes it. That’s why it’s so permissive.”

“Was that the papers you sent out to Konoha two weeks ago?”

“Yep. I can imagine the face of the elders when they received the notice for paternity leave.”

“They didn’t protest?”

She gave him a smug smile.

“Sure they did. But did you know that being a war hero had its advantages? You can request titles, land ownership, compensation money, maybe a medal... _I_ asked for favors. Master Tsunade suggested I do that. And so this was one of those favors I cashed in. So there you go! Konoha-style paternity leave for you.” She winked at him and he smiled.

“Well then, thanks. So dependable, Uchiha-san,” he huffed. 

“Hmhmm. Believe it,” Sakura said smugly, though slightly blushing at the literal name calling. Sasuke kind of enjoyed teasing her with it, or so it seemed. Although he couldn’t stop the scoff from coming out as she referred to their idiotic friend’s favorite punchline.

“It feels normal,” Sakura said after a while. It seemed to take a moment to Sasuke to understand that she meant the pranking. “It feels like we aren’t shinobis. That we weren’t at war, a few years ago. That we weren’t... ennemies.”

Sasuke sat there in silence. Sakura had closed her eyes painfully, as if she got hurt by the words she just said.

She felt fingers linking with hers shyly. He never reached out to her like that before and she stared at their hands joined together, fascinated, as he squeezed hers softly.

“When I left after the war,” Sasuke said after a moment, “I was determined to realize and process every single thing that I did, that hurt anyone. The list was unsurprisingly long.”

She stayed quiet but squeezed his hand back.

“A lot of the people that I hurt didn’t even want to see my face, so why ever would they want my help, right? But...”

He paused, unsure of what to say. Sakura waited, leaning her chin on his shoulder. 

“I was... appalled to see that some just went on with their lives. No time in indulging the past, you have to keep moving forward. There was this old shinobi from Amegakure I cut an arm off for Orochimaru, back in the day. When he saw me again, without one, he pointed at me in the street and laughed so hard he fell out of his chair. He checked if I was of age to buy me a drink. That was one of the weirdest night I spent on my trips.”

She chuckled at his incredulous tone. 

“Was it fun, though?”

Sasuke smiled, reminiscing.

“Hn. It was.”

There was a pause before he spoke again.

“I’m telling you this because I don’t think we are unplugging, so to speak. This is part of us too. This is our life as well. It can stay that way if you want. Or you can do something else entirely. We just... go on with our lives, I guess.”

She closed her eyes and smiled, soft and content. 

“Such wise words. You wouldn’t think they would ever come from Uchiha Sasuke, especially if you consider how he was when younger,” she lamented, her tone teasing. He scoffed at her antics. 

“I suppose this is the thanks I get for trying to cheer you up,” he sneered.

Her hand came up to move his long hair away from his cheek and she kissed it softly. 

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun. It did cheer me up.”

He smiled and Sakura felt the heat on his face where her lips touched it. His fingers played with hers slightly, his smile was the tiniest thing, but she noticed and reveled in it. There was a comfortable silence, before he spoke again.

“You don’t need to stop pranks after she’s born, you know?”

“Hm?”

He smirked, looking almost evil.

“What say you we prank the dumbass when we get home?”

She blinked, then giggled. 

“See, that’s where the ‘Uchiha genius’ part finally comes in,” she snarked and he used his usual response to her jabs, which was obviously followed by her cackling:

“ _Fuck you._ ”

He didn’t do that often, but still, he kissed her sneakily and felt her blink then giggling into it, lips smiling against his. Her laugh was always infectious.


End file.
